Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-08-12
TEXAS.
a Variety OF Myths Respecting the Lon.
Star Commonwealth Which Will
Not Bear Inspection.
Something About tho Size of This Empire
the Population, the Soil, Its Railroads
and its Greatest aailroad Center
Kansas City Journal

other enervatlg customs incident TO
lsw-abiding, wealthy and highly cultured
community like Kansas City would ct
last make 8 complete wreck OF my al
ready frail constitution. | did not need 8
summer resort or else | would have re
NAMED at the mouth Of the KeW
wanted a climate where the mercury
rises to 10 or higher, in the shade,
and where from May TO October it never
fslls below 100. l wanted a community
where the nights would be made
hideous by nightly "scrimmages" ard
which would be followed at breakfast
time by the summONing Of at least half a
dozen coroner's juries which would, with
wonderful unanimity, return Yerdict8
reading thus: "Killed by an act OF Prov
idence.n | wanted to see the land where
the cowboy is king and where he gamtols
and CANDLES unfettered. l wanted 20 ride
on railroad trains that would be robbed
at every water tank. l wanted TO see q
state, an empire in extent, devastated,
depopulated or uninhabitable owing to
many succeeding and long continued
drouths. l wanted to see a people who
quafed nothing but copious draughts Of
"red liquor" in summer to keep them
cool, in winter to keep them warm, and
at all times as an aGtldote for the deadly
sting OF the dreaded tsrantuIa. In short
l was yearning for the place
Where they riot and rcvel
And raise the devil
And toy with the shooting iron.
And thus free myself from chronic en-
nui, superinduced by long contact with
enormous real estate deals, building
booms, promising dummy lines, activity
among pork packers and amateur artists
and iterati.
When had diagnosed my ailment and
prescribed the remedy my mind at once
reverted TO Texas as the only place in
which 10 seek relief. The first impress
sion concerning Texas | ever received
was near the time / began TO read, say
about the close OF the late civil war, when
the pr0fsne remark of a United States
army officer concerning the Lone Star
state was current to this effect, "That if
ne owned TeysS he would give it ali for
an abode in HI"
THIS VERDICT HAS BEEN AFFIRMED
and reafirmed by prejudice, bigOtry, ig
norance, hate and political cunning, all
around me almost down to the hour ]
entered the state. No one here Will
quarrel with me, therefore, because l &c
masses among which | have always
moved. At the same time these same
northern and western men will, Oh ny
return home, most heartily congratulate
me on having experienced so many agree
able dissppointments during my entire
stay here.
To reach Texas directly from Kansas
City you have the choice oftwO railroads,
viz; the Missouri Pacific and the Santa
Re, each running through Pullman
5leepers, the one to San Antonio and
the other to Galveston, and each via
Fort Worth, Texas, the most important
city you reach after leaving Kansas City,
and the greatest railroad center in this
great stste. In due time l shall write
fully on this head. | made the journey
down by the Missouri Pacific, and hence
one afternoon about = O'Clock l crossed
the Red river into Grayson county, Tex,
few miles north of Denison.
And right here the shsttering OF my
preconceiVed idea OF Texas began. AS
one by one they have given way to the
happier truth have experienced 8 GER
tain reCoil, which in many instances was
almost as strong as that Of the hero's guL
in Hudibras,
q
Recoiled and kicked its owner over.
The fields were green with ripenins
corn and blooming cotton. Here anC
there were large straw stacks, indicating
g most bounteous harvest of small grains
ON every farm was an orchard in which
every tree was laden with fruit, peaches
large, rosy, luscious ones predominsting
Hereupon ] made note to this effect
i'If HI beats this country it mas ali beer
pre-empted long age, and claims O.
twenty-five foot lots are only obtainablt
at ruinous rates. Since this is the case
settlers would do well to stop in this par
of Texas, where every luxury and broad
acres are procurable at moderate cos
on easy terms"
Since max NJ that nete l have treYe4et
over large part of the state, q stat6fen
times as la-ge as MssourE more
than three times the size of kansas, five
times the area of Iowa, larger than 81
New England, as large as the entire Ger
msa Empire and larger than Republican
France; s state with rich farming lands
grazing lands, timber lands; state wit
coal and iron and copper and richer min
erals; state with the finest Of
MARBLES AND GRANTEES
and the more common building stones;
state with fruits uld flowers and liz IN
streams; state, in hue-yes, more, a.
empire, indeed-in which every huma
want can be supplied and i
which many millions will, in tn
near future, find hsppy homei
E"Thirty years ago Marseiles lay burr
ing in the sun one day" You know th
rest from little Dorrit." One year age
this year, portions of Missouri, low
and Nebraska have laid burning in til
sun. Vast acres in Kansas considered
garden the gods themselves might no
scorn, have had verdure burned away
So, too, portions Of Texas lay scortche
benesth fervid sky. And this keeps 20
away from Texas when "the vine ella
hills" of Southern France have been tn
theme of many poetic frenzy, and whe
all the western and northwestern state
have sttracted millions of settlers, no
withstandiDg periodical drouths
CREST severity. As the state fills u
and each succeeding yesr sees tn
cultivation of an increased acreage
SO, too, each succeeding yes
witnesses materially increased rainfai
The productive possibilities of Texas az
unknown quantities, even to well in
formed Texans. l believe it is Mr.. A,
kipcop no xualI ArnaricaD writQ